D day and crockpotting

Well Tuesday is D-Day....WAH! It feels like the first day of school or something. I have nothing to wear, feel totally out of sorts and sync, wondering how the group has changed and if I will remember everything, and wishing I was still going to be at home with my baby boys. Still praying maybe Matt will get some sort of AWESOME job offer that would allow it to be so and at the same time just praying he gets a job offer cause I know how ready he is to work and be out of the house and around peeps. Ironically, the one thing that makes it easier for me going back to work is knowing that Mark will be home with Matt. Not the same thing as me being home, but I will be glad little M can spend some more time with one parent and individual attention.

So, with me returning to work and a whole new schedule, been thinking about ways to make dinner quicker and maximize my time with my man and my babies. I bought a ww cook book all on slow cookers and a lot of the recipes sound really good!! Question for you though....many of them say they only need to cook for like 3-4 hours. How does that work if you want to leave it before you go to work? You just put all your ingredients in and have it turn on later? What if the ingredients are perishable, like meats? Any tips are appreciated and please keep me in your prayers this week as I return to work and missing my boys and also pray for Matt as he is at home on his own with the boys....Irony anyone? ;-)

Books are Always Better Than Movies

Just watched My Sister's Keeper while Matt was watching Aggie basketball. I couldn't go when it came out and the book club ladies went and saw it so I have been looking forward to it being on rental. Ugh, so disappointed. What makes the book SO great is the ENDING and the movie is totally different. The book is one of my all time faves, but the change in the end was just too much. Anyone else see the movie and totally disappointed??

Matt and I agreed we think the only books that translated into really good movies were the Lord of the Rings series. What do you think?

Speaking of books, just finished March's book club selection of Day After Night by Anita Diamant (wrote the Red Tent). It was really good!! Got to a point where I just had to finish it, no matter when I went to bed. Love books like that! Now reading The Year of Fog. It is good but a little Lovely Bones-esque. Not always good things to read before bed....

Any good book recommendations out there? I have The Art of Racing in the Rain waiting for me on my Nook but first I need to get through some actual books I have had on my shelf for awhile!

So I finally joined ww about a week and a half ago and last night was our first weigh in. I am happy to report I lost 3.8lbs! Woohoo! Mom and I are going together and she also lost 3.8. Go us! Matt also lost 3 point something this week too. If only every week could be a loss like that ;-)

Anyhoo, I have been walking almost every day and hoping to figure out a way to continue to do so once I am back at work. The options are a)in the morning (or should I call it middle of the night b/c it would be like 4:00am!) b)go to gym during lunch (have never liked this idea but maybe i should try) or c) after work with the boys...pending they cooperate!! If you are a working momma, what works for you??

I have done ww on and off for prob about 8 years now...and even when off the program, I would never order a margarita again after learning they are like 5 points minimum a glass. I would rather my 2pt beer or wine. Well, one thing I have had to re-learn is that a 2pt glass of wine is different than MY version of a glass of wine! Matt and I probably make 4 glasses of wine out of a bottle where it should actually be 6 to 7!! Woops! That explains a lot!!

Anyway, I am feeling encouraged and motivated and am hoping by summer to have shed much more than 3.8lbs!! :)

Last Week :(

I am sad to say this is my last week at home with my two little munchkins. I have SO very much enjoyed my maternity leave and all the time spent with the boys. Although it is stressful at times with hubs and I both together 24/7, the time we have spent together is precious and I am thankful for it. The one good thing about big M at home is that means little M will be at home for awhile longer too. I am definitely nervous about the transition of me not being here though for Zach. We have quite a routine down and I am hoping Z does okay with the change. And missing Mark, well that's a given. He is my little sidekick and I will 110% miss being with him all day!!

One positive thing about going back to work? I will be showering and washing my hair every day again. Woohoo! I need to go shopping this week and pick up a few new tops. I swear my wardrobe is just a mess. I don't want to buy much since I am on ww now, but I need a few things to get me through the next few months.

So, will be making the most of this week as I can and grateful for my Mondays off. They will be so much sweeter even now!

I Must Have "Sucker" on my forehead...

Yes, that is correct. Hello, my name is Lisa and I am a sucker. I just bought my 4th box of girl scout cookies. They must be passing it around amongst the troops that this lady cannot say no. The last little girl that just came by...I knew it was girl scouts before I even answered cause I could see someone short at the door and an adult standing in the drive. She asked if I wanted to buy some and my initial response was that I had already bought some. But she looked so sad and disappointed I quickly caved and bought 1 more box....THANKFULLY, I think by the time the cookies all arrive I will be at work and I plan to bring them there! Let other people eat them! :)

Yesterday we ventured out to Portrait Innovations with the boys. Figured we would take some 2 year photos of Z and 3 mo (and first portraits) for M. Oh my. What a crazy time. Thankfully, we had a super patient photographer and there was no one else there so we could take as long as we wanted. Zach was in a great mood but just wanted to play and not go into the photo area. Mark on the other hand, every time he saw the camera would cry! It was so weird! I am telling you, Mark rarely fusses, only when he is hungry. But man, he was just NOT into the photo taking. The guy kept just playing with Z and actually got him to come in and then I bribed him with some gummy Nemos and we got some cute pics of him. But poor M, just not a lot of smiles for him! I think when we do the 6 month, perhaps we will go back to a regular photographer!

Happy 3 months, sweet Mark!

A quick shout out to my sweet little M! 3 months today! Time is passing WAY too quickly!

Mark is quite the chatterbox and this week he started giggling!! Man, you cannot beat that sweet baby laugh! I love my Zachary's big guffaw but this newest little chuckle is pretty darn cute. He definitely loves his big brother and I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual. Zachary loves to talk to him and I think we must do a fair amount of cooing at him too because Z will go up to Mark and get real close and "goo goo gaa gaa" at him. Hilarious!

We are getting a little better at the night sleeping this past week. If we could get a routine of 11-12 and sleep til 5, momma would be a happy camper. He is still sleeping in our room in the bassinet and I think I will keep him there for awhile. He enjoys his morning snuggles for a couple hours in bed and I am more than happy to oblige.

Mark is also getting very good at the tripod pose and sitting up and I think enjoying his new view of the world!

I am on my last 2 weeks of maternity leave and will do my best to make the most of it!!

Love you sweet boy!

Picture Post!

Just because they are cute! Enjoy!

Little brother got attacked by Z and the stickers! :)

All decked out in Cowboy gear...too bad it didn't help!

Can't get enough of this cute smile!

Almost a week, ack!

I wish I could say I had been doing something terribly exciting over the last week and that is why I haven't updated, but alas, probably only exciting to me! Just been chilling with my boys! :)

We were hunkering down at the house through Tuesday waiting to make sure Mark got his clean bill of health from the doctor in regards to the breathing. Thankfully, his lungs were all clear and we were able to complete his check up with 3 vaccines, poor baby! He did very well though and only cried for the prick and as soon as I could pick him up, all better.

Wednesday we had a very impromptu visit with an old friend, Taylon! She came in for a very short visit to meet Mr. Mark! It was great to catch up and we all wish we got to see her more often.

And today, Mark and I made the the trip into town for my annual review at work. Sheesh, I sure have not missed that drive. Everyone was very kind and happy to see me and it was good to see them too. But even though I love my job, I am not ready to go back. Need to make the most of these next 2 weeks!!

On another note, I am being a scrapping QUEEN! I have completed my Christmas card book and have all 2010 cards in. So if you sent me a picture card this year, thank you! You shall be forever in book! taylon enjoyed flipping through it and seeing everyone and their families!

I am ALMOST finished with my December Daily. It has turned out very cute and think it will be a neat tradition to do. I just had Christmas Eve and Christmas left to do. Go Me!

And lastly, Project Life is kicking it!! I have all my cards in place and have been taking my daily pictures, need to get caught up on journaling but I am very excited about it too and thinking the finished project will be awesome!

Hope the start of the new year is going well for all of you too!

#500

That's right, this is post #500. Can you believe it? I started this blog almost 3 years ago to chronicle our pregnancy journey once we finally got pregnant with the Z Man. I love blogging for many reasons...ability to keep friends and family updated on what's happening in our lives, share pics, forum for parenting and other random subjects and just to sometimes vent and ramble! I wish I had something more profound to say than that, but at the moment, I think the baby brain is still in full gear and I cannot complete very complicated thought processes. Better get that sorted out before I am back to work in 3 weeks.....

So, what's new in the boys' world? Well, Mark is still doing his breathing treatments every 4 hours. I think he is getting better, not as raspy regular breathing as before but still has the cough every once in awhile. Hopefully 3 more days will make a difference by the time we head back to doc on Tuesday. Thank goodness I am still on leave so I am able to not take time off work to be with him and administer the treatments!! Sleeping....well, this could be interesting when I go back to work. I am trying to keep him awake more during the day but some days that is more difficult than others if there is a lot going on. I think part of the issue is he is a snacker. He does not drink a lot at a time, which could be due in part to the breathing? So I think he wakes up hungry! This week, he has been eating and then sleeping from about 9pm-2am and then back up again at 5-6am. I wish the 5 hour stretch was from 12-5 but when I was waking him to feed him around 11-12 it made it worse. Any suggestions out there?? About another month and we can start some foods so perhaps that could help? I swear Zach was sleeping from about 11-12 to 5-6 around 6 or 7 weeks!

Z Man is still my sweet crazy Z Man. He absolutely loves his little brother. He loves to watch Mark get his diaper changed and fetches me diapers and wipes! He also loves to hold and cuddle mark or have mark lie down with him. So cute! His vocab is coming along very well too. Every day we hear new words or phrases. We went very quickly from just one word to putting 2-4 words together. And along with all this has come a new pickiness! "want THIS spoon", "Not want THIS cup", "want THESE socks", "Not THIS short"! Who knew an almost 2 year old could be so darn opinionated! Or perhaps it could be a little of the terrible 2s rearing its ugly head? Time will tell I suppose, but since 2 is only 6 weeks off, figuring it surely could be! Time to really start working on our disciplining plans!

Anyway, I hope the new year is treating you well...and here's to another 500 posts!!

Oh yeah, and it is National DeLurking week...so post comment and tell me hello please! :)

Belated Two Month Check Up...

Yes, I missed the originally scheduled one on December 18th as I COMPLETELY forgot about it so today was the first appointment I could get for a well visit when I realized at 3pm on the 18th that I had missed my 9am time. but ANYWAY.........

I went in for what I assumed would be the regular weigh, stretch, chat, etc visit along with discussing that poor M had picked up a cold from his big brother and is a prolific spitter upper. He was so kind to demonstrate his spitting up in the office. Right before they called me back, as Mark was smiling and cooing in his car seat......SPEEEWWWW!!! Thank goodness I had a bib on him so i saved the onesie some but his pants, burp cloth, socks, and blanket were drenched...and for the first time ever I swear, I had no change of clothes, I had left them on the dryer to put into the bag. UGH. Anyway, after discussing that issue with the doc, it was determined M is what they call a Happy Spitter Upper. His weight and height gain are great, he doesn't show any pain during or after, etc....so we basically get to deal with just doing lots of outfit changes and laundry. Thank goodness we have a dryer again!!

And now onto the not fun part...the cold. Turns out it is infant bronchiolitis. Poor little dude. The good news is we are probably about half way through it since it really started on NYE. Also, he doesn't seem to be affected with eating or sleeping too bad and has not had fever. The not fun news...breathing treatments every 4 hours. Poor little dude! He does fine when we start, then screams, then takes it gently and tuckers out. We go back in a week to re-check and if all good, will do our 2 month vaccines then. I feel so bad but doc reassured me that it is very common and pretty unavoidable, so lets just watch it now and get it taken care of.

His stats:

weight: 12 lbs 1oz

height: 23 1/2 ''

He is in the 50-75%. Nice and average!

Anyway, here is to hoping next week is better and thank goodness I am not back at work so that I can be home with him and not worry about taking the time off!!

New Years Resolutions?

Are you making any resolutions this year? If so, do you make them public or keep them to yourself? I think that's a hard part of it...cause you know, if you fail and no one but you knows about it...is it really failing? ;-)

Mine is to get healthy. The last three years have been hard on the old body with a years plus worth of fertility treatments and 2 babies in 2 years. I have always been heavier than my friends too and sometimes I think I let that be an excuse because, you know...I will never look like that!

About 6 years ago, I lost weight on Weight Watchers and that was probably the best I looked in a long time. I was SO focused. I wonder if I could get back to that determination or not?? These days my daily goal sometimes is to just make it through the day! ;-) BUT, I do remember how good it felt to be successful and that part of it has been thinking about giving it a real try again, not some half a$$, who really cares try. I think the hardest part is finding the time and getting started. I know, that is every overweight person's excuse...but as a working mom, the last thing I want to do is go work out and spend more time away from my boys. I need to get to that point where it is a habit and I actually want to work out.

My goal timing would be good though....6 months to summer...10 year WT Beach Bash trip, Matt and I's 6 year anniversary/belated 5 year trip. Ugh. I just hate getting started and being accountable and people watching what you eat and judging cause they know you are "trying to lose weight". I am one of those people who will cheat every once in awhile if I want to be able to keep it going!

So, don't hold me to it but I will try to do that myself, and hopefully in 6 months we will have a lighter and healthier Lisa! We shall see!

Happy New Year!! 2010, here we come!

Another year past, can you believe it? Time just seems to pass so much faster the older we get. For a lot of people, 2009 was not the best year, and we have been touched by that as well with Matt losing his job. But for us, all of that was overshadowed by the wonderful arrival of Mister Mark Wendell into our world! What a blessing he is and I can't imagine our family without him, our little family of four!!

My big baby boy will be 2 in about 6 weeks. Can you believe it, TWO?! That's like a real little boy, no more baby. Weird to think we will be potty training this year and continuing to expand his vocab and all the new things he will do as a two year old! We will probably be doing a Thomas birthday party for him, he does love his trains. I better get on that, it will be here before we know it.

2010 also means my maternity leave is nearing an end. BOO. I am thankful for my job and enjoy the work most of the time, but I am definitely going to miss being home with my boys. Through all the challenges, they still bring me immense joy and lots of laughter!

I had a lot more to say, profound stuff too I am sure, but I am pooped and ready for bed. We had a rockin NYE at our house and I did not get near enough sleep. My mom was so kind to watch sweet Mark so I could enjoy myself a little more, but I didn't take full advantage of that and stayed up too late. Thankfully Zach took and unprecedented 4 hour nap so I was able to clean up the tornado in our house and still get in a 2 hour nap. Woohoo!

Hope you all had a great time ringing in the new decade and I am excited to see what 2010 brings for all my friends and family! My wish list includes a job for Matt and a diet for me and a VACATION for both of us! I hope we are successful at all 3. Whats on your list of to-dos??